Today we’d like to introduce you to Heidi Lemelin.
Hi Heidi, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I graduated from Texas Christian University spring of 2021 and became a real estate agent in the DFW area. I have always loved the idea of meeting new people and decided that helping someone find their dream home was the right career path for me. I feel like I am wired very differently than a lot of my peers. The thought of going into an office every day and working under someone actually made me feel unmotivated and insecure. I knew I needed to do something that continuously challenged me. This is when the idea of The Branded Brim came into my life. I have always had a love for art, but never did anything with it beside the harmless doodle here and there. I was staying busy with real estate but also felt like my creative cup was not being filled. On a road trip with my family, I was sitting shotgun next to my dad, and he became a sounding board for me to bounce business ideas off of. Wearing wide-brim hats was already an essential part of my wardrobe, but I needed to find that special something that would make my hats stand out from other hat companies. We both threw out different ideas of only branding initials into the hat or making creative bands to give it that extra flare, but none of those seemed like they would be enough to get me noticed and on the map. While on the drive, I applied for my resale license, found a wholesaler, and ordered supplies right there in the RV. When we got home, it was time to create. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew that there was only one way to find out if my idea of burning designs onto a hat would actually work, so I used a thin-tip burning and drew a sunflower on one side of the hat. To my amazement, it worked! Now that I had made the idea a reality, it was time to think of a name. My brother and I sat on our living room couch for about 10 hours that next day brainstorming business names and googling of it existed or not, most of them already did. The Branded Brim was actually one of the last names I thought of. My brother, Jared, is a photographer/videographer so I roped him into helping me get product shots of my first round of hats and got my cousin to model the designs with me. Then, I started an Instagram account, created a website using templates and lots of YouTube videos, and made my site live August 22, 2022. Within 4 days, all of my hats were gone. and I was already getting requests for the next availability. This only made my passion and entrepreneurial personality grow!
The way I formatted my small business is that I release a new hat each month and then I leave the previous designs up in case someone new finds my site and wants to order. Building a custom hat is always an option and it allows for the customer to get exactly what they want! My goal is to bring my hats to pop-up events and farmers markets in the DFW area so it can allow people to see the work in person. This will allow me to get face-to-face with my customers and really show them who I am and why I am so passionate about what I make.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Starting this online hat boutique has been anything BUT a smooth road. I have hats that I have accidentally burned directly through, and designs that didn’t come out exactly how I pictured they would in my head. A lot of burning onto the hat is trial and error, but that doesn’t mean it is any less fun. Finding out how to run an online store was also a struggle. No one I knew had ever done something like this, so I was the guinea pig and had to learn things along the way. Something that was a big struggle was finding a good wholesaler I could rely on and have full confidence that the quality would be worth my time and money. This does not just fall under the category of hats, but also boxes, tags, and fabric.
I remember, one morning, I woke up to an email from a wholesaler that they were no longer going to be restocking the wide-brim hats once they sell out. This email came right before a big order I had to place for a market I was attending. I scoured the internet for about 3 days looking for trustworthy companies that I could order hats through and thankfully found one in time that is exactly what I had needed.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I hand draw and burn designs into wide brim hats. I specialize in floral designs but have done anything from flowers to mountains to college and professional sports themed hats. I love when customers order custom hats because I get to play around and design something unique and special to them. Through this I learn a little more about my customers and feel connected to them by simply burning a design onto a hat. My favorite hat that I have made so far is actually a more recent custom order. This individual purchased a hat for his wife’s birthday, and he wanted his four daughters’ birth month flower burned onto the hat. This was a lot of fun to make because I knew how much it would mean to the wife when she was gifted it.
I believe that the uniqueness of the individual hat sets me apart from others. From what I’ve seen, there aren’t many hat companies can do what I do. You can get a lot of hats branded with an initial or an emblem, but to have a hat you can design and tell a story through makes The Branded Brim stand out from the rest. I think the excitement that comes from monthly design releases and custom order opportunities makes my boutique hat company memorable.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
My online store opened August of 2022, so there has not been that many restrictions due to Covid-19, but I am constantly trying to create a safe and welcoming space when hosting a pop-up event or attending a farmers’ market.
Contact Info:
- Website: thebrandedbrim.com
- Instagram: @the.branded.brim
- Other: Tiktok: @thebrandedbrim
Image Credits
Jared Lemelin
